I hit Cle Elum today to try my hand at Mackinaw for the first time in 38 years... I didn't anticipate much success since I'm completely new to that fishery.

The day started beautifully. Very light traffic on the boat launch, clear skies, no wind. I don't know anything about the lake so I started trolling south on the east side from Wish Poosh. I tried trolling some of the plugs we used in Montana back in the day, with no luck. The bottom of the lake claimed one crankbait when I encountered a submerged point.

The first three fish came in pretty much the same circumstances. I was trolling very near the bottom in 60-75' of water. I'd run into shallower water, and the lure would start chattering along the bottom. Bringing the downrigger up just a couple of feet to clear the bottom would result in a strike. It seems like the rule in shallower water was "If you ain't bumpin' bottom, you ain't fishin'."

It seemed to me that the size of the fish corresponded to the depth of the water, so after catching three lakers, I swung out into the center of the lake, planning on trolling back to the boat launch. The downriggers were both maxed out, and I still wasn't close to the bottom, especially since the balls were a little small for the depth and boat speed. Still, there was a 30" laker suspended conveniently close to my spoon, and he obliged. A few minutes later, I landed my first ever brown trout, which surprised me given that I was trolling in over 200' of water.

All five fish hit the same rig on the same rod - a 3.5" blue/silver spoon with a chrome back and a fish pattern printed on the front. It probably made a nice proxy for a Kokanee smolt. I went 5:5, with every biter ending up in the net. Swapping out factory hooks for Gamakatsu Big River Bait hooks is my normal MO, and they didn't disappoint.

Anyway, for my first foray into Cle Elum Lake and my first laker trip in nearly four decades, I really couldn't be much happier. I just need to remember that lakers have impressive teeth, and the human thumb is fragile enough to require due care in the handling of these fish, even when they've already expired.

I did have one problem with my boat today. It's a problem I see quite a bit, actually. Too many empty seats. If you're able to help me fix that issue, please drop me a comment.